You Mattered the Most - Take Two
by GoodShipSherlollipop
Summary: It's mid-January and Molly Holmes is anxious to re-create another past memory with Sherlock., one that might have ended differently if she hadn't been engaged at the time. Sensual, but not explicit.
1. Chapter 1

**Special Note 3/17/19:** New cover image courtesy of thefabulous **Elizabeth Robello!**

* * *

It was a cold day in mid-January, and Sherlock had been out at New Scotland Yard, helping Greg solve a murder case. He had done so quite efficiently, and decided to stop in at the hospital, because Molly's shift was almost over.

Making his way up to the lab where she would undoubtedly be, he pushed the door open and stood there nonchalantly - for about thirty seconds. At his wife's obliviousness to his presence, he eventually cleared his throat to indicate his presence.

Molly finally looked up from the microscope through which she had been examining a slide. "Sherlock! I wasn't expecting you."

"I finished up at the Yard early. Thought I'd stop by and accompany you home." He walked towards her.

"Hold on. Let me just finish up here and I'm all yours."

He stopped walking and waited patiently till Molly stripped off her gloves, made a few notes on a report and filed the slide away in a drawer. She washed her hands and went over to him, giving him a kiss of welcome. "I'll just get rid of my lab coat and we can go."

They were on their way home when Molly asked, "Do you have anything planned for this evening?"

Sherlock quirked an eyebrow. "Why? Are you asking me out?" he questioned with a smirk.

"In a manner of speaking. I thought we'd do our next re-creation."

"And what memory are we re-writing this time?"

"You know. The one where you told me I mattered. The one that ended in you leaving me alone, after you had asked me if I wanted chips."

"Darling, you keep forgetting why I did that."

"Yeah, yeah, I was engaged to someone else, as you've pointed out several times."

"Well, it is the truth."

"Yeah, I know," she huffed. "Anyway, we can talk about it more when we get home."

Inside the flat a short time later, Sherlock seated himself in his favourite chair, while Molly outlined her plan.

"So, that conversation took place in a hallway walking downward and at the bottom of the stairs. I think we can use ours here."

"And if Mrs. Hudson should see us play-acting, what do you think she will say?"

Molly waved him off. "Details, details. Let's just assume she won't."

"Just in case, I suggest we keep any hallway interactions to a strictly PG rating."

Molly snorted. "I'm not that desperate for you that I'd strip you naked in the hallway just to have my way with you." As if to belie her own words, Molly crawled onto his lap, straddling him, so she could talk with him face to face.

Sherlock gave her a very seductive look. "Shouldn't I be doing the stripping YOU naked to have my way with YOU, rather than the other way around?" He ran his hands up and down her back, feeling his own body's automatic response to her closeness.

"Sweetheart, this is the twenty-first century. I may be a good girl, but if I can't be a bit naughty at times with my husband, life would be pretty dull."

Sherlock murmured in a deep voice, "Am I to assume you will be the one to initiate any further interaction at the conclusion of the scenario?"

Molly shrugged. "I don't know - you, me, what does it matter? The only thing that matters is the end result." She glanced at him coquettishly.

 ** _Oh Lord,_** he thought. **_She is doing this to me on purpose. All that sexy talk._** He gave himself a mental shake, trying to force down the desire spreading through him. "Perhaps we need to return to the subject at hand. Are we following through with getting chips afterwards?"

"Definitely. I want my date with you that I never got."

"Engaged, Molly." He tapped his ring finger meaningfully.

Molly pouted. "You know, I never thought to ask before, but why didn't you figure out I was engaged until that precise moment? You are usually so observant."

"Two words - gloves and invitation."

"That's three words."

"Good Lord, sweetheart, must you be so literal? You don't count the 'and.'"

Molly grinned. "I was just teasing. The gloves I understand, because I was wearing them when I came to the flat at your request, and perhaps you just weren't looking at my hand later. But invitation? What's that supposed to mean?"

"When I asked if you would like to solve crimes, you thought I was going to ask you to have dinner. Not exactly something I would expect you to have in the forefront of your mind as an engaged lady."

Molly blushed. "I was just so excited you wanted to see me that I wasn't thinking straight. I forgot I was engaged to someone else."

"I'm glad you never forgot you were engaged to me," he remarked dryly.

Molly rolled her eyes at him. "Like I could ever forget being engaged to the man I had won after seven years of unrequited love."

"You know, you won me a lot sooner than that, I just didn't know it. You'd won my heart already that day in the hallway. That first Christmas, when I thought you had a boyfriend, I was jealous. I wouldn't have felt that if I didn't have an emotional connection with you. If that blasted text hadn't come in when it did, perhaps things would have been different with us already back then."

"Oh yes, the famous Irene Adler. Pardon me for despising the woman. How dare she try to seduce you!"

"Well, she was not successful, as you know."

"Lucky for you, we've already made a new memory from that Christmas, completely ignoring that text from her."

Sherlock put his arms around her. "And a very nice one it was too." He gave her a long, lingering kiss that left her breathless. "You are the first and only woman I've been with, just as I was your first. That, in and of itself is pretty special as far as I'm concerned."

She rested her forehead against his. "I know. Everything new we experience together is a first for both of us. Maybe that's why I feel like I can be a little naughty at times. You have nobody to compare me to, or to find me lacking in any way."

"Oh, Molly," he breathed. "I love my little naughty angel." He brushed her lips with his, then traced a path down her neck, pressing kisses all the way to her pulse point which he could feel was throbbing erratically beneath the skin.

He rather liked her straddling his lap, it put her at a more comfortable height for his caresses. More tongues of fire flickered within him as he casually slid his hands under his wife's blouse and jumper, making his way up towards her bra with a single purpose in mind.

Molly squeaked in protest and hastened to get off his lap.

He groaned in protest. "Can't we finish what we started? I am being brought back to mind of the cold showers I had to endure during our engagement, every time you tempted me beyond reason."

"That is entirely your own fault," Molly said unsympathetically. "I was just innocently sitting on your lap."

"Straddling my lap, baby. That's an open invitation in my book."

"Sherlock! Behave yourself. There will be plenty of time for you to have your way with me - later."

Sherlock pouted. "Why not now AND later?"

She looked at him crossly. "We haven't finished discussing the scenario yet, and we're running out of time. Victoria and I are in need of those chips."

"No dress rehearsal for this scenario then?" he asked sorrowfully.

"You can hardly call what you were - are wanting right now a dress rehearsal. We weren't even running our lines."

"I could do that if it would change your mind - 'Moriarty made a mistake, he slipped up. Because the...'"

Molly put her hand across his mouth. "Not happening. Besides, I need to go to the loo and then get dressed in the same clothes I wore that day. Oh, and keep your coat on, of course. Get your mind palace in gear while you wait, to make sure you remember your lines."

"Bossy much?" He muttered and she glared at him, before dissolving into giggles.

"I AM bossy aren't I? Guess you must like strong women."

He nodded solemnly. He did like it that she was not afraid to speak her mind to him. Years earlier, in the beginning, she had been like a puppet who danced when he pulled her strings, but his Molly was a strong, feisty little vixen these days. **_And sometimes a naughty little one at that_** , he told himself, feeling a sudden jolt of desire hit him again. **_Calm yourself, Sherlock,_** he thought. _**There's plenty of time for that later**._

She turned to leave, but he stopped her. "Why don't I hold onto your rings for safekeeping while we do this? We have to keep in character, and you said you wanted the re-creation to be minus the engagement ring."

"Oops, you're right." Molly slid off her rings and handed them to him, then left.

While she was gone, Sherlock went to a drawer in his desk and pulled out a little box that had been hidden in the corner. He picked up the object inside, finished his task and waited.

* * *

 **Author's note:** I always did kind of wonder about Sherlock not realizing Molly was engaged. With that quick glance downward, after he said, "You made it all possible," I do think that was the first time he realized she was wearing a ring. Agree? Disagree? I'd love to know.

Are you looking forward to part two? Will the scenario turn out as well as Molly hopes?

Any thoughts on what Sherlock got from the drawer?

Updated with a couple corrections 6/22/18.


	2. Playing out the Scenario

A few minutes later Molly returned, wearing her favourite striped jumper, the same one she had been wearing the day of THE phone call months earlier.

"Ready?" she asked.

He nodded. Walking to the door of the flat, he opened it and waited for Molly to get halfway down the stairs, then began to walk himself. As he passed her, he asked, "Fancy some chips?"

"What?" she questioned.

Still walking downstairs and not looking at her, "I know a fantastic chip shop just off the Marylebone Road. The owner always gives me extra portions."

Molly followed his descent. "Did you get him off a murder charge?"

"Nope. Helped him put up some shelves." A slight smile.

"Sherlock?"

He reached the bottom of the stairs, "Hmm?" He looked up as she continued her descent.

"What was today about?"

"Saying thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything you did for me."

She reached the bottom, walked past him. "'s okay. It was my pleasure." Then she turned and looked at him as he said,

"No. I mean it."

"I don't mean pleasure, I mean, I didn't mind, I wanted to do it."

He gave her an intense look. "Moriarty slipped up. He made a mistake. Because the one person he didn't think mattered at all to me was the one person that mattered the most."

A pause. "You made it all possible."

And then Sherlock changed the scene, dropping to one knee and reaching into his pocket.

"Molly, I've been a fool. For two years you've invaded my thoughts constantly, and now that I'm back I've found I can't live without you. I want you to be very happy, Molly Hooper. You deserve it. Marry me and give me that chance to make you happy." He held out the rings to her he had pocketed earlier.

Molly gasped. Her own engagement ring was being offered, and yet it was not just that. Surrounding the heart-shaped diamond, on either side were now three marquise cut gems, a diamond in between two rubies. The whole effect was to enhance the beauty of the centre gem.

Molly's eyes filled with tears. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Answer my question first, and I'll tell you."

"Oh darling," she cried breathlessly. "Yes! I'd marry you a thousand times over!"

Sherlock stood and slid the rings, including her wedding band onto her finger. The heart sparkled brightly within its new setting, courtesy of its recent cleaning.

Then she was in his arms and he was kissing her passionately, clasping her face in his hands as he moved his mouth over hers, savouring her sweetness.

Suddenly, a burst of quiet applause assailed their ears, and the couple broke off their kiss, then turned to see Mrs. Hudson beaming at them.

"How long have you been standing there?" inquired Sherlock, feeling somewhat embarrassed that she had witnessed any of their scenario.

"I poked my head out when you were coming down the stairs. Didm't you say something about wanting chips?"

Sherlock positively flushed at that. "So pretty much the whole thing, then."

"And very beautiful it was too, dear. I always knew you had it in you. So romantic, it was." She fluttered her hands in front of her face. "I'm just a little confused though. What was all that talk about Moriarty, and what on earth are you doing, proposing again to your wife? I feel like I've gone into some alternate universe."

Molly laughed. "It was my idea. I wanted to alter a memory from the past, to make a better one. You witnessed a re-creation of a scene that played out just after Sherlock came back to London. We had a wonderful day together, and at the end, he saw my engagement ring to Tom. He had invited me for chips, but then he left me."

"Every time you tell this story, you leave out the reason WHY I left you. Because you were engaged to ANOTHER MAN!" Sherlock ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I'm always the bad guy, the one who left you."

"Oh, darling, I'm sorry," Molly said penitently, taking his hands and squeezing them. She looked over at the landlady. "He's absolutely right. He was a complete gentleman, who left because he didn't want to get in the way of my happiness with someone else."

"I really like this new memory of yours," enthused the elderly woman. "Never did care for that Tom chap. Just seemed a little too nice. But what was all that about Sherlock planning something? You just said it was your idea. I'm so confused!"

"Oh, we didn't get to that did we?" Molly looked at Sherlock. She released Sherlock's hands and extended her left one to Mrs. Hudson.

"Look at my rings," she invited.

The elderly lady peered at them. Didn't you just have a heart before? Did Sherlock buy a new engagement ring?

"No." answered Sherlock. "It's a ring enhancer. It is designed to fit around the sides of the existing ring, in order to make it stand out more."

"Well, it certainly does that. It's simply lovely."

Molly looked more closely at her rings, then addressed her husband. "So, when you took my rings for 'cleaning,' was that when you got the idea?"

"Actually I wanted to do it for Christmas, but I couldn't think of an excuse for borrowing them," he confessed.

"Couldn't you have just bought the enhancer and given me the rings back?"

"No. Take them off just for a second."

Molly did as she was told, handing the rings to her husband. He held up the enhancer. "See this notch in the centre?"

Molly and Mrs. Hudson, who was hovering nearby, nodded.

"Well, because your ring is a heart, not a circle, the jeweller had to cut a notch into the enhancer so it would fit properly, because the heart has a point to it. That's why I had to leave your rings there for a few days."

"And he told me he was going to get them cleaned, then happened to forget to pick them up," confided Molly to Mrs. Hudson.

"Clever boy," approved the landlady.

"Look inside the ring too," urged Sherlock.

Molly lifted it and read the engraving. "'Forever and always.' Oh it's just beautiful," she exclaimed, tears shimmering in her eyes. "You're my forever and always too." She kissed her husband's cheek and replaced the rings on her finger.

Molly's stomach gave a huge gurgle at that moment and she blushed. "Victoria and I are ready for our chips, apparently."

"Well," said the landlady tactfully. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone now. Have a good night." She walked back into her flat and closed the door firmly.

'Alright, Mrs. Holmes," said Sherlock, "Let's get those chips and finish this."

The couple walked to the chip shop and got their usual portion, then made their way home again.

Molly winced at the winter chill which reddened her cheeks as they hurried down the street.

"I'm sorry, love," Sherlock said. "I should have just gone out to get the chips earlier by myself after all."

"You couldn't do that," countered Molly. "We needed to go and get them together, the way you planned initially."

Reaching the outer door of 221B, Sherlock unlocked it and ushered his wife inside. He hung up his Belstaff on the coat rack inside the door, and added Molly's jacket.

They repeated their method of a couple weeks earlier, spending some time in a passionate clinch to warm themselves up, before they ate the chips.

The couple sat at the kitchen table and ate. Presently, Sherlock excused himself to go and use the toilet. When he returned, he looked at Molly, who was still admiring her new ring. "You had better use the loo too, my wife. I do not intend for our next flirtation to be interrupted by untimely bladder urges."

Molly grinned at him. "If you say so, husband."

Upon her return, the couple finished their chips, Molly still displaying her left hand this way and that, observing it from every angle.

Sherlock patted his belly in satisfaction. "I do love those chips. I'm pretty sleepy. I think I'll go take a nap."

Molly looked at him in consternation. "Seriously? You make me use the loo so I won't interrupt any flirtation you might want to indulge in, and now you want a nap?"

Sherlock chuckled. "You're spending so much time admiring that ring, that I am starting to feel like a third wheel."

He pushed back his chair, getting ready to stand. Before he could do so, Molly, with a quickness that amazed him, considering her ever expanding middle, got off her chair and straddled him, the way she had done earlier, causing an immediate increase of his heartbeat.

"Oh no, you don't," she insisted. "Would you like me to spend some ttime admiring you, rather than my ring?"

"That would be eminently preferable," he told her in a husky voice.

Molly leaned into her husband and kissed him deeply, while she stroked his soft curls.

Sherlock gave a deep sigh of contentment. Molly didn't take the initiative often, but when she did, she knew exactly how to fan the flames of his ardour.

Her fingers found the button of his jacket, unfastening it even as the couple continued to kiss. She whispered into his ear the delightfully naughty things she intended to do to him, and things she wanted him to do to her, and his body shuddered with overwhelming desire for his wife.

Sherlock's questing hands found the buttons of her blouse. The bottom three were already undone, to give her belly room, but he made short work of the others.

He stood then, lifting Molly with him before gently releasing his grip, so she had to stand, thus eliciting a whimper of protest from her.

"The bedroom is much more comfortable," he said, after pulling Molly's jumper and blouse off and discarding them, "especially if you intend for us to do all those things you whispered in my ear." He began to walk her backwards to the bedroom as they kissed again and Molly unfastened his shirt, dropping that also on the ground.

They continued that way, leaving a trail of discarded clothing that led to their bedroom.

Sherlock was a little surprised and quite delighted to discover Molly wore no bra, having eschewed it in favour of donning her sheer white babydoll.

Even that didn't stay on long once they reached the bed and Sherlock lifted Molly, depositing her into the middle of the bed. He hovered over her, kissing and touching her shoulders, her breasts, and lower still, feeling her body's wanton response to his ministrations, until she was clutching at his ebony curls and begging for him to love her, to make love to her.

Always the gentleman, he was only too happy to oblige, both giving and receiving in the best way possible until they soared to the heights of ecstasy together.

When their passion at last ebbed to a more manageable degree, and their breathing returned to normal, Sherlock pressed his forehead to Molly's.

"My sweet angel," he breathed. Then he dipped his head down to kiss her belly and the life growing within his wife's womb. "And my sweet little princess."

He settled Molly securely in his arms, and they both fell into a deeply contented sleep.

 **Author's note:** I've seen many AU's of the various scenes between Sherlock and Molly, but I like to use this unique approach, to keep the canon, but have the fun of re-creating them in a better way, with a much better outcome.

Do you enjoy Molly being a little naughty?

I hope you enjoy my little flight of fancy. As always, I am grateful for any feedback I receive. What other scenes do you think should be re-created?

Also, the thing about the ring enhancer requiring a notch because of the heart's point is factual. I have a heart-shaped engagement ring and have a ring wrap for it, which required the notch.

Updated with corrections on 6/22/18. Feedback still appreciated!


End file.
